Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- May 10, 2018

Robert Fisk, The Independent: In the Middle East right now, all sides in this complex battle are staring at each other with increasing concern

An Israeli statement that the Iranians had missiles in Syria was surely made in concert with the Trump administration – it came within hours, and coincidences don’t run that close in the Middle East

In the West, it’s easy to concentrate on each daily drama about the Middle East and forget the world in which the real people of the region live. The latest ravings of the American president on the Iran nuclear agreement – mercifully, at last, firmly opposed by the EU – obscure the lands of mass graves and tunnels in which the Muslim Middle East now exists. Even inside the area, there has now arisen an almost macabre disinterest in the suffering that has been inflicted here over the past six years. It’s Israel’s air strikes in Syria that now takes away the attention span.

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Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- May 10, 2018

Analysis Iran's Entrenchment in Syria Set Back Months After Most Extensive Israeli Strike in Decades -- Amos Harel, Haaretz

Fears grow as Israel and Iran edge closer to conflict -- Oliver Holmes in Jerusalem and Saeed Kamali Dehghan, The Guardian

Will Iran and Israel Go to War? Trump Backs Israel's Right to Use Force as Rockets Fly Across Border From Syria -- Cristina Maza, Newsweek

Israel v Iran: Are they heading for a war? -- Jonathan Marcus, BBC

Will Iran try to tie down the US in Afghanistan? -- Masood Saifullah, DW

Iraq's Looming Election Has ISIS Spooked -- Borzou Daragahi, The Atlantic

Unpicking the results of Lebanon's elections -- Asma Ajroudi, Al Jazeera

Why the Iran nuclear deal's collapse is a disaster for North Korea -- Fabian Kretschmer, DW

Trump and Kim: the rocky road from taunts to talks -- AFP

Malaysia’s Chance to Clean Up -- The Economist

China's Plan to Conquer the South China Sea Is Now Clear -- Richard A. Bitzinger, National Interest

Is the South China Sea Dispute a Foregone Conclusion? -- The Diplomat

'Strategically comforting and tactically terrifying': Chinese leaders are wary of Trump — but they still see an opportunity -- Christopher Woody, Business Insider

Russia’s Blunders Abroad Have Galvanized Europe -- Courtney & Haltzel, Moscow Times

Trump’s high-risk doctrine? Swing for the bleacher seats -- Catherine Lucey, Jonathan Lemire and Ken Thomas, AP